Hyde Park Summer Fest canceled due to rising COVID cases

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Hyde Park Summer Fest will be canceled yet again because of rising COVID cases in Chicago.

Organizers put out a notice saying after consideration, with the rise of cases they decided to cancel.

"It is our obligation to prioritize our community's health and safety over any other interests," organizers posted on Instagram. "With increasing COVID-19 cases and associated risks, we do not believe it is the right choice to move forward with the festival at this time. This was an incredibly difficult decision, but we believe putting the community's health and safety first is the most responsible decision."

It was scheduled for to happen on September 11 and 12 at a new location on the Midway Plaisance around 59th and Woodlawn.

"It is a bummer, but I will say we need to take the right precautions to get back to normal again," Martin Beck said.

The festival, which had been called Hyde Park Brew Fest in years past, was expected to draw 20,000 people.

"I'm kind of disappointed because I was looking forward to things going back to normal, but it seems with the new variant we are going to start regressing so whatever is best for the community," Danielle White said.

People who spoke with ABC7 said they appreciated the focus on the everyone's health.

"It makes perfect sense as the numbers are rising, cases are rising, got to value people," Juel Stanley said. "And with people being cautious, hopefully cases will go down."

"I think it was a wise decision to cancel something that obviously a lot of people were looking forward to, but I think safety is the priority," Zion Mallette added. "It doesn't matter how you feel about it, people's lives are at stake and that's the most important thing."

Organizers promise to refund vendors and start planning for Hyde Park Summer Fest 2022.